The Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha (JTMM) (Nepali: जनतान्त्रिक तराई मुक्ति मोर्चा, Janatāntrika Tarāī Muktī Morcā, "Terai People's Liberation Front;" also Terai Janatantrik Mukti Morcha (TJMM)) is a political organisation in Nepal. It was formed in 2004 as a split from the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (CPN-M) around Jay Krishna Goit. The group accused the CPN-M of not guaranteeing the autonomy of the Terai region. The Jwala Singh faction of the Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha (JTMM-J) was formed by Nagendra Kumar Paswan AKA Jwala Singh in August 2006 after he broke away from the Goit-led JTMM. Jwala Singh is a former CPN-M cadre and had joined Goit when he floated the JTMM. Later, Singh developed differences with Goit over strategies for the liberation of the Terai and establishment of an independent Terai state. The Jwala and Goit factions have a history of competition, armed conflict, and assassination of each other's cadres, although they had moments of rapprochement in 2009. Leadership and structure The original faction of the JTMM was formed in July 2004 by Jaya Krishna Goit after splitting from the CPN-M. Goit had been a former leader of the Unified Marxist Leninist Party (UML) and the coordinator of the Madhesi National Liberation Front within the CPN-M. Goit accused the Maoist leadership of betraying the Madhesi people, and began to directly and violently oppose the CPN-M. The Goit faction is believed to comprise about a thousand main supporters; Goit's main lieutenant is Pawan Singh. Jwala Singh is the leader of one JTMM splinter group, the JTMM-J. The group claims to have formed an armed militia in 12 of the 20 Terai districts. With a cadre strength of a few hundred, this group has an organisation modeled on the CPN-M, including central and district level governments and a Terai Liberation Army. Having fought against both the government and the Goit faction for several years, Jwala Singh indicated in January 2009 that eventual reconciliation and merger with the Goit faction was likely. Another distinct group within the JTMM is the Rajan Mukti faction (JTMM-R), led by Rajiv Jha. This faction has also entered into independent negotiations with the Nepalese government, with which it has ties through Vice President Parmanand Jha's media secretary. In April 2011, after at least six rounds of talks with the Nepalese government since 2007, these main factions of the JTMM claimed to lay down arms and end their